Recognition Assembly Highlights Student Excellence

On the morning of Friday, December 16th, the the Woodland Heights Community came together to honor and celebrate the achievements of more than 130 WHS scholars and student citizens. 109 students (25% of our student population) garnered 'Perfect Attendance' accolades for the month of November, and an additional 25 students were recognized for their distinction as either a classroom 'Student of the Month' or a program 'Outstanding Student in Specials'.

In addition to student recognition, we held our customary schoolwide morning routines in a 'Schoolwide Morning Meeting' format, and engaged in a few activities centered on promoting school spirit. A few of these activities included singing our school song together (a major hit with the kids), celebrating several 'Keys to Character' awards, and some commentary and observations on the past month shared by the building principal.

Although the assembly was a bit more lengthy than we had intended, it was a great way to start our Friday, and the program set a very positive tone and a warm sense of community that lasted the entire day.

At Woodland Heights, we teach academics well, and we do so much more for our students, families and the greater Laconia Community. For that, we are extremely proud. Great job, Kids! We can't wait to celebrate your excellence, and the strength of our school community again next month!

WHS School Climate Initiative Gathering Steam

After our school's Warm Woodland Welcome in August, and Fall Open House in September got our school community activity schedule off to great start, our school's well-attended and much enjoyed Fall Harvest Festival in October and Family Turkey Dinner in November kept the ball rolling, our WHS-PTO Polar Express Night in December has our school community partnership activities gathering steam. Truly, the frequency and pace of school activities that promote the growth of our school community continues to increase.

Community building efforts for students, families, staff, and the greater Laconia community (as outlined in the paragraph above)is the first of a three-tiered approach to continuous improvement of our school's climate and culture. 'School Climate' has to do with how our school looks and feels, how safe it is, and how comfortable and happy our school community members are when they are here.

In addition to our multi-layered community-building efforts, we continue to focus our attention to our ongoing character development program for our students. These efforts take many forms and are most frequently lead by our teachers and our entire school staff through our commitment to the Responsive Classroom Approach to help promote social skills and peaceful problem-solving, guidance classes and friendship groups offered by our school counselor, and DARE classes offered to our 5th Graders by the Laconia Police Department. Our goal is to help develop Woodland students who are smart, capable, and good! It is many of these 'soft skills' that will have a great deal to do with the success and happiness that our students will experience as they further their education and pursue their families and careers.

The last part of our school climate improvement initiative is a concentrated effort to promote student citizenship. In this effort we have two major components: developing a school-wide behavior expectation system (PBIS)that creates and promotes a positive code of conduct for our school community, and a program to address and support students who are challenged with persistent behaviors that are contrary to the safe and orderly conduct of our school.

Here is a link to the 'Prezi' slide show that I'll be sharing with the WHS-PTO meeting on Tuesday evening, December 13th, at 6:30pm. Please join us if you would like to learn more about what we are working on to further improve our school climate and all that we intend to do for our students beyond teaching academics.

WHS-PTO Polar Express Brings Woodland Families Together

On the evening of Friday, December 2nd, WHS came alive with the rumble and roar of holiday excitement that only 'The Polar Express' can bring. With help from the Laconia Santa Fund, the PTO hosted a splendid evening of treats, gifts, and a holiday movie on the WHS big screen.

For several years running, the WHS community has come together to share a memorable night that is all about the magic of the holidays, family, joy, and wonder. Our Polar Express night features our families coming into the school (most in 'jammies'), laying out a blanket on our multi-purpose room floor, and settling in to see a holiday movie together in high-definition video and cinema sound. Our WHS-PTO accepts a $2 donation per family, or a holiday child's gift to donate to a local charity. Families are served hot chocolate and cookies provided by the PTO, and are given a Polar Express book and a stuffed holiday stocking provided by our local Santa Fund. We have also been fortunate to have a special guest from the North Pole join us for the event.

If you missed us this year at the WHS-PTO Polar Express, be sure that you do not do so again next year. Be sure to answer the call, "All aboard!!!" when you hear it in December, 2012.

Happy Holidays to all Woodland Heights family and friends!

Fall Staff Inservice Training Day Offers Many Opportunities for Professional Learning

On Thursday, November 10th, the Laconia School District offered its staff members a full day of professional learning throughout the district's five schools.

Your Woodland Heights classroom teachers spent the day on their home turf while hosting their colleagues from Elm and Pleasant Street Schools while collaborating in cross-district grade level curriculum and program development in Science, Social Studies, mathematics, and literacy. Teachers also invested time in improving our electronic portfolio process for students, and participating in discussions about best practices in our district for technology integration.

WHS also hosted the district's guidance counselor training and media generalist / technology teacher training. Our arts teachers went across town to meet with their district counterparts, as did our school's paraprofessional staff.

There has been a theme growing amongst the staff of our district's three elementary schools, we call it: "We Are One!" Perhaps seeming a bit corny in the beginning of last year, our district's "We Are One!" campaign is really getting a head of steam. We are observing that gains in our schools' improvement initiatives are occurring at an exponential rate here in Laconia. The energy and enthusiasm is absolutely fabulous to see and feel. As some of our city's social service organizations noted a while back, that they were "Better Together", so are we. Your Laconia elementary schools continue to build upon and share strengths, and work collaboratively, effectively, and efficiently in meeting areas of relative weakness with focused effort and a relentless drive for improvement.

The Laconia school system is a dynamic and exciting place to work and to learn, and our inservice day this past Thursday proved to be a marvelous example of this. Many thanks to you all for 'taking the kids' on the 10th so that your teachers and staff could continue their work to get our district and the education that it delivers "to the next level".

WHS Buzzes with Activity During Fall Parent Conferences

Woodland teachers were thrilled with the turnout for our annual Fall Parent Conferences on the afternoon and evening of Wednesday, November 9th. Most all teachers reported the highest parent attendance rate in recent years. We are absolutely delighted that our partnership with parents continues to strengthen at WHS.

There is little doubt, and an abundance of research suggests, that the quality of a student's education is impacted as much by the level of interest and involvement of the child's parents as it is by the 'quality' of the school the child attends. Our school's success, that of your child, and the future that s/he will one day enjoy, depends heavily the commitment you make to support your student in their learning at Woodland Heights. There is a direct correlation between parent involvement and student achievement: when parents value education, students do better in school. For all of our work at WHS, you are and will always be your child's greatest and most powerful teacher. Without parent commitment to create a stable and loving home, and actively support their child's education, a child's likelihood for enjoying a successful, happy, and fulfilling life are greatly reduced.

Other evidence of our growing partnership with parents includes the record number of attendees to school and WHS-PTO events this fall such as the Warm Woodland Welcome, Fall Open House, Halloween Party, Harvest Festival, and more (our annual WHS Turkey Dinner will be serves this coming week -- you won't want to miss it, check our school website for details). The attendance and activity of our parent organization, the WHS-PTO, also grows in number and influence. Everything related to our parent partnership is trending in the right direction at WHS. Thank you.

Be part of your child's education. Be part of the magic that will help make your child's life all that it can be now and in the many years ahead. Start now by becoming a Woodland Heights parent partner!

We hope that you will be able to join us on Thursday for our annual WHS Turkey Dinner -- I guarantee that it would make your child's day. Gobble-gobble!!

WHS Honors Veterans in a Student-Centered Ceremony

On Wednesday morning, November 9th, our WHS Community gathered in front of our school for a very special Veterans Day observance.

For two weeks prior, students and teachers had been discussing and planning ways to commemorate this year's Veterans Day in appropriate fashion. Some of the opportunities offered to learn about and honor our nation's veterans included: a letter/card writing campaign, a recognition display in which school community members put the name of a friend or family member who is serving or has served in the armed forces on a star which was then affixed to a centrally located wall display, student video interviews of veterans which were placed in a shared folder on one of our servers so that teachers and students can access them to integrate into upcoming instruction, and a visit to a local veterans home to meet with and get to know local veterans.

The centerpiece of our observance was our school-wide assembly on Wednesday morning. The assembly featured our Grade 5 students performing a skit to educate their younger schoolmates about what it is to be a veteran, why our veterans are so important to us, and why we should honor them. Fifth Graders also led us in a flag folding ceremony as our former school flag was retired that day. A new and beautiful U.S. flag was presented to Mr. Ryan Marsh, Director of Student Services for WHS, who then took it through our building and onto the roof for raising. The students followed the raising with a recital of the Pledge of Allegiance. The flag was presented to our school by veteran Paul Boore (father of Grade 5 teacher Monica Boore) during the ceremony who, along with four friends, represented the Patriot Guard who rode to WHS on their motorcycles and trikes. One of the members spoke for some time about the sacrifices of veterans and a homeless shelter for veterans with which she is associated. The weather was amazing for our assembly, as was the reverence of our students throughout the entire assembly.

At Woodland Heights, we are proud of our students, our school, our veterans, and our country.

We have pictures and video from our Veterans Day observance activities, some of which I will look to post on this blog early this coming week.

Thanks for reading!

Professor Mahesh Sharma Returns to Our Laconia Schools!

During the week of October 31st to November 4th, Professor Dr. Mahesh Sharma will come back to work with us in the Laconia School District. Professor Sharma will continue his work with teachers from Kindergarten to 12th Grade improve our math instruction methods. Mahesh's influence on our practice has been dramatically positive since he started consulting with us last Spring.

Dr. Sharma typically will spend his time with teachers introducing new practices/approaches to teaching mathematics, modelling these practices by teaching students in our classrooms (while teachers observe), and then meeting with teachers to debrief the observation, answer questions, and the like.

Our teachers find these learning experiences with Professor Sharma extremely beneficial, and with direct and immediate positive impact on their teaching and student learning. We are so fortunate and so pleased to have the opportunity to bring Mahesh Sharma to our school district.

If you have not yet had an opportunity to meet Dr. Sharma and hear him speak about how children learn mathematics (and how you can help them learn math concepts better and faster), please plan to join us for a special evening presentation with Professor Sharma at Laconia Middle School on the evening of Thursday, November 3rd, from 6:00-7:30pm.

We hope to see you there!

WHS Book Fair Now Underway .....

We are pleased to announce that our annual Scholastic Book Fair is now underway. the book fair opened on October 27th, and will run until November 9th. The fair is open daily from 8:30am-3:30pm. We will offer special evening hours on Wednesday, November 9th (the day of our fall parent conferences) -- we'll be open until 8:00pm. on the 9th!

You can shop hundreds of books and study aids at our book fair; all at very affordable prices! Please come by and visit our annual Scholastic Book Fair. You'll be supporting two fantastic causes if you do: our school library, and your child's improved reading ability! This is a 'win-win' proposition, for sure.

Many thanks, in advance, for any support that you can offer!

WHS Harvest Festival A Real (S)MASH!!

Under the direction of our school counselor, Mollie Babcock, the students and staff of Woodland Heights School enjoyed a fabulous day of learning and fun as we celebrated our annual 'Harvest Festival'.

Many staff members and school volunteers worked together to plan and facilitate the fifteen stations that comprised our harvest celebration. A sampling of our morning stations included: football, volleyball, soccer, beanbag, and obstacle course stations (all run by Laconia High School student athletes); birdseed and gourd stations run by the LHS Key Club; a ghost adventure, arts and crafts station, a story station run by staff; and a 'Monster Mash' dance station led by members of the LHS Cheer Squad. Our afternoon activities included quality time with 'Laconia's Finest' (Laconia Police Department) to learn about how to be safe while out trick-or-treating, making scarecrows, and watching a short cartoon on halloween traditions.

This special event could not have been possible without the help of many people in our school and local community. Many thanks to all who made this day of harvest celebration so wonderful for our students!

Elementary ACTL Makes a Difference!

In the Laconia elementary schools, we opened this year with an enormous advantage over previous years. As part of our district administration's shrewd cost-cutting measures last spring, we were able to cut a number of staff positions, while creating one new and extremely valuable position in the process. This new staffing pattern makes us even more efficient and even more effective in all that we are working toward as part of our district's school improvement efforts.

What? This past summer, a long-time friend and devoted staff member of the Laconia Elementary Schools, Mrs. Gail Bourn (also an Adjunct Professor of Education at Plymouth State University), won appointment as our school district's first 'Academic Coordinator of Teaching and Learning' (ACTL, "Actyl" for short). Our ACTL is a full-time administrative-level staff position shared amongst our district's three elementary schools. Gail's maintains her office and spends two full days at WHS, using her other three days of the week working with the teachers and principals at Elm Street and Pleasant Street Schools.

So What? Mrs. Bourn's impact on our school improvement efforts and our overall school effectiveness in just her first two months on the job cannot be overstated. Gail began her ACTL tenure conducting powerful mulri-day teacher training institutes in such areas as Teaching Reading Comprehension, the Writing Process, and Kindergarten and Grade 1 Curriculum and Instructional Improvement. Since then, she has conducted trainin as part of our school opening professional development modules on Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), and developed and facilitated the PLC process in each of our elementary schools. She has worked collaboratively with grade level teams to develop their annual SMART goals that will guide their professional development over the course of the coming school year. She has also coordinated our visits and professional development in our work with Professor Mahesh Sharma (mathematics), continued her work with our Kindergarten and Grade 1 Teams in ongoing program development, holds seats on our Laconia Improvement Team, Humanities Council, and Mathematics & Science Council. She is a member of our school district administrative team, and has provided ready and well-qualified guidance to our district elementary principals in all affairs related to curriculum, instruction, and assessment. In addition to all of this, she has been accessible to staff in each of our buildings and conducts regular meetings for teachers to support them in their work individually or in small groups. Oh, and Gail does a lot more for us, too. Much more than I probably know.


Then What? Mrs. Bourn will continue her work with our school's Professional Learning Communities, as well as our Mathematics and Literacy Improvement Initiatives. Specifically, she will likely work with our school-based improvement teams in analyzing student assessment data as it becomes available to us (AIMSWeb, NWEA-MAP, and NECAP), strategies for intelligent and deliberate integration of Mahesh Sharma techniques into our Everyday Math Program instruction, and fostering further improvement of our literacy program to include the conduct of more efficient and effective Readers and Writers Workshops across all grade levels in our school.

Now What? Mrs. Gail Bourn is a warmly welcomed member of our school staff. Her efforts have complemented our work at every turn. Her experience, expertise, organization and communication skills, as well as her sensibilities about what our school should and can be, have alreay proven to be enormous assets to our staff and students. We are a better school for Gail's membership, and the sky is the limit on the work we will do together for the benefit of our school system and its students.

Come in to Woodland Heights sometime soon, and ask to meet our school community's latest addition: Mrs. Gail Bourn, Laconia School District Academic Coordinator of Teaching and Learning -- Elementary. Her warmth and welcoming nature will put you at ease and help you to better understand all that we are doing to further improve the educational experiences of your child at our very own Woodland Heights School.

Slots Still Available in 'Ready for Kindergarten!' Program

We are pleased to announce that the registration period for the Lakes Region United Way 'Ready for Kindergarten!' program has been extended as there are still attendance slots available for this free educational program.

What is 'Ready for Kindergarten!'? It is an parent and child educational program to help families prepare their children for a successful kindergarten experience. Infants to children 5 years old are eligible to enroll with their parents. There is a good deal of parent education and teaching materials provided to help you be even more effective as your child's 'first and most loved teacher'.

Here is a flyer for the program:


(Click to enlarge.)

Here are the slots for the program that remain as of Friday, October 6th:

Child Age............Kindergarten Class...........Available Slots
Birth-1..............(K Class of 2016)..................Full
1-2..................(K Class of 2015)................2 Spots
2-3..................(K Class of 2014)................3 Spots
3-4..................(K Class of 2013)................2 Spots
4-5..................(K Class of 2012)................1 Spot

If you would like to learn more about 'Ready for Kindergarten!', or register for the program, contact Shannon at 524-1741 ext 15 right away!

Thanks for your interest and good luck! When we 'Live United', everyone wins.

Fall Curriculum Night a Success, and Podcast Posted

On behalf of the WHS Staff, I'd like to thank the many WHS families for coming out to join us this evening for our annual Fall Curriculum Night. Our event was very well (and enthusiastically) attended by many new and returning friends. Your participation in our event this evening means a great deal to us, and to your children. Again, thank you.

Here is the podcast recorded during my presentation at the close of our program. Regrettably, our movie did not finish rendering until six minutes after our program concluded. No kidding. Isn't that the way! Oh well, at least we got to see some video clips of the kids and teachers in action this morning, and I think that was enjoyed by our audience.

Again, thanks for joining us this evening, and if you couldn't attend our 7pm. presentation, here is an audio recording for you to enjoy (or listen to if you ever have trouble falling asleep -- Zzzzzzzz!). [The podcast could take a few moments to load. thanks for your patience!]

WHS Fall Curriculum Night and Other Reminders ....

This is just a quick note to remind you that we will hold our annual Fall Curriculum Open House tomorrow night from 6:00-7:00pm., with a formal presentation to follow from 7:00-7:30pm. Please plan to join us for this great celebration of the work our students have done so far this year. Here are some hints and information on what to expect at our Open House: parking will be at a premium (as always), please drive carefully as you enter and leave school grounds, a ‘Scavenger Hunt’ will be organized for the children (students who complete the activity will receive a coupon which can be redeemed at our school book fair), please arrive early enough so that you can visit all areas and departments of the school, there will be free snacks available in the MPR during Open House, there will be a WHS Website webquest for your family to complete as part of the scavenger hunt, and beginning at 7pm. we’ll offer a principal’s presentation (“WHS: Our Focus on Children and Learning”) in the MPR. All Open House activities will end as close to 7:30 as possible to get the kids and teachers home for a good night’s rest!!

More good news: The WHS-PTO has made arrangements to extend its fall fundraiser for a couple more days. If you had wanted to participate, but missed our original date, you have until the end of this week (absolutely no later) to do so.

Also please remember that next Thursday the 29th is WHS School Picture Day! You will soon receive a packet from our school photographer with information about school portraits this year.

Many thanks for your support, and see you tomorrow night!

Fall Student Assessments Already Underway!

We've just started our year together at WHS, and yet it is time to begin our annual fall assessment activities. Why do we subject our students to testing almost as soon as they step through our doors to begin a new school year? Although we use this student achievement 'baseline' to measure growth over the coming months against the results of future test administrations, the greatest power of this assessment data is in its application to help inform teachers relative to individual student learning needs. It provides another perspective or 'data point' that teachers can use to inform their instructional decision-making in the weeks and months ahead. The data is analyzed by teachers individually, and as a member of a grade level team through our Professional Learning Community (PLC) meetings. School Administration also analyzes this testing data to measure our progress toward acheiving school performance goals and our progress in the effective implementation of powerful school improvement initiatives. In short, testing in schools is a big deal, and a common practice / student experience in the modern public school.

So which tests do we use at Woodland Heights? Although there are more than what will be listed here, the key assessments administered at our school include AIMSWeb testing for students in Kindergarten through Grade 2, and the NWEA Measures of Academic Progress (NWEA-MAP) for students in Grades 3-5 (students in Grades 3-5 must also take an annual state-wide assessment called NECAP in early to mid-October). These assessments include subtests in various areas of reading literacy and mathematics. The assessments (AIMSWeb & NWEA-MAP) are administered in September, and then again in January and in May. The data that we are able to obtain through these testing experiences help us to create a composite for individual student, grade level, and school-wide growth in performance toward high standards for student schievement. Most imprtantly, though, the data helps us to make better decisions about what we do for students and how we do it here at WHS. Without assessment data, we'd be guessing and working on a 'hunch' when planning instruction for students. Student assessment data gives us a specific point on the road map to higher student achievement. Knowing precisely where we are right now allows us to more effectively chart our course to our ultimate destination in the days and weeks ahead.

Our assessment practices are not unlike the way Patriots Head Coach, Bill Bellichick, and his coaching team collects data by taping games on Sunday and then analyzing the results in meetings beginning on Sunday evening. The cadre' of coaches then conduct meetings with specific individual players and groups of players to coach/teach/lead them to more effective performance during the next game. In a similar fashion, our teachers obtain and use assessment data with colleagues and students to foster ongoing improvement in academics and everything else that we do -- hopefully leading us all the way to victory in our own 'Big Game'.

To learn more about the assessments we use at Woodland Heights, you can go to the following websites for AIMSWeb, NWEA-MAP, and NECAP. As always, we welcome your questions and feedback. Do not hesitate to contact your child's teacher or school administration at your convenience if we can assist you in any way.

Professor Mahesh Sharma Shares Math Teaching Strategies at WHS

Professor Mahesh Sharma has returned to our school district and been 'in the house' here at WHS all this week. Dr. Sharma spent time with us last spring and a full week training teachers in late July. Now he is back in town to share direct applications of his teachings, and facilitate our implementation of his mathematics instruction strategies. 'Mahesh' (as we know him) is pulling together grade level teachers from across our school district to meet at WHS and enjoy some direct instruction and opportunities for practice teaching of our mathematics curriculum 'non-negotiables' (the essentials of what must be taught and learned by every student at a particular grade level). Mahesh is also modelling instruction as he demonstrates lessons with classes here at WHS. He has been concluding each training session with a debriefing meeting in which teachers discuss what they observed during Mahesh's lesson and what they can take away to use in their own teaching.

This experience has been very powerful and a real 'game-changer' in terms of how we teach math in the Laconia School District. Ask you student about what they are learning about math with Cuisenaire rods, unifix cubes, and visual cluster cards. Our students are building a solid understanding of mathematical concepts that will support their learning significantly over the time ahead.

Professor Sharma's next visit to Laconia will be in late October. As part of that program, Mahesh will offer an opportunity for parents to meet with him and learn more about his approach to mathematics instruction. He will likely improve your understanding of mathematical concepts, and will share ways in which you can help to build mathematical intelligence and ability in your child(ren). The meeting will be held at the Laconia Middle School on the evening of Thursday, November 3rd, from 6:00-7:30pm. We hope that you will be able to join us for this evening which will be enlightening for parents, and provide them with skills to help their children become even better math students.

Welcome Back, Students and Parents!

It is a tremendous pleasure, and honor, to welcome you back to a new and exciting year at the Woodland Heights School. There are just a few notes and reminders I wanted to share with you today.

Our Opening Days … First of all, we are off to an absolutely fantastic start this year. The WHS students, staff, and families worked so very well together yesterday. Everyone was extremely upbeat and excited to begin our new school year. All of our systems (arrival, lunch, recess, and dismissal) went like clockwork – almost like we never left for the summer!

Help Make It A Great Start For Your Child – Every Day! On that note, we really want to thank you for all that you have done to prepare your child(ren) for school. Also, your support in helping your child get off to a smooth start each day is extremely important. If a child ‘gets off on the wrong foot’, s/he plays catch up all day, and that is both difficult and exhausting. Please do all that you can to help ensure that your child gets plenty of rest every night, enjoys a nutritious breakfast, and has a calm morning experience before school. Again, if your child has a great morning at home and gets to school on time, s/he comes to school steps ahead of the game, rather than steps behind.

Arrivals and Dismissals: Regarding buses to start the year, it can take a little while for our families and bus drivers to work out the kinks of their new routines and get everything working smoothly and efficiently. Anticipate that your child’s bus might be early or arrive a bit late at both ends of the day. Thank you, in advance, for your patience! Parents have been doing an absolutely fantastic job following our student drop-off and student pick-up routines to begin the school year. Your continued support in this area will help us to be most efficient with our procedures, and will help us to assure the safety of all people involved during these times of day.

To be In The Know ….. Check out our school website at http://www2.laconiaschools.org/whs/. At our website we have all the information you would ever want about our school (and more!). Please take some time to check it out soon.
Join the Team! The Woodland Heights School PTO meets on the second Tuesday evening of every month at 6:30pm. Our first meeting of the year will be held on Tuesday, September 13th. To learn more about the organization and how you can help support the PTO and our school, please plan to stop by the meeting or contact one of the PTO officers. The PTO has a very important fundraiser now underway. Yesterday you received information about the Cherrydale Farms fundraiser that they are running until September 20th. Proceeds from this fundraiser will be used for school enrichment programs and assemblies, field trips, playground improvements, and much more. Please support this fundraiser by purchasing what you can, and encouraging your friends and family to do the same. It’s all for a great cause: improving and enriching your child’s learning experiences as a student at WHS!

In the time ahead we look forward to partnering with you to make it a great year for your student(s) here at Woodland Heights. Please do not hesitate to contact us whenever you have a question, concern, or need. We will do our best you help in any way that we can.

Finally: WHS is Closing in On Opening Day!

The energy and excitement here at WHS builds with every passing day. With every passing day we get closer to our opening day for the 2011-2012 school year. I am pleased to report that we are almost ready. In a little more than a week we will welcome you and your family to join us in a major celebration of our school community: our 'Warm Woodland Welcome!' But before getting into that, there is a lot to tell you. Let's get going ....

Our Building > The facility crew have been working tirelessly to clean our school from top to bottom. They are now adding final polish to the school building, and helping teachers with their final classroom preparations before school opening. We are looking REALLY good here at WHS, and we owe it all to our facility crew.

Our Staff > WHS Staff members have been in all summer to participate in professional development training, team planning meetings, and classroom set-up activities. They are now gearing up for our official school opening activities that include three full days of meetings and training to help assure that we have our 'A-Game' on Thursday when we open the school for classes.

Our Programming > You can expect an even more 'student-centered' focus in all of our subject areas and learning activities. We are moving away (slowly, cautiously, and deliberately) from commercial 'programs' to a greater focus on curriculum standards, instructional 'Best Practices', and meeting the indvidual learning needs of all of our students. The shift is one of both philosophy and practice. It is important to note that many of our teachers and teams have been effectively headed in this direction for quite a while. The difference is that we are now institutionalizing this change: we are ALL making this move, together, in a planned, organized, deliberate, and public way. You'll notice the greatest changes in the areas of Literacy (moving to a 'Balanced Literacy', 'Readers and Writers Workshop' model) and in Mathematics (supplementing our Everday Math Program with the approaches and techniques of Professor Mahesh Sharma).

Our Learning Resources > Woodland kids will continue to learn with great books and great technology. What may be different this year is an early focus on learning math using 'Cuisenaire rods' to help students better conceptualize and understand numbers and math facts. Also, students will have greater access to 21st Century Learning Tools than ever before -- new computer clusters and iPads will be available for students and teachers shortly after school opening.

Our Parent Organization > The WHS-PTO will have it's opening meeting on September 13th at 6:30pm. Our parents have big plans for a spectacular year at WHS. To learn more about what the WHS-PTO is planning, and how you can be part of the program, please consider joining us on Tuesday the 13th!

Our Student Support Team > You can expect to see our student support specialists -- special educators, Title I teachers, etc. ('Interventionists' as they are sometimes known) -- fully embedded into our grade level teaching teams and no longer operating as distinct, separate entitites/programs working with students on material that is disconnected to the work of the rest of their class peers. This 'Inclusive' model of student service delivery is considered 'Best Practice' and will complement our 'Differentiated Instruction' and 'Response to Intervention' programs. This all means (in most cases) that we will be using a 'push-in' rather than a 'pull-out' model of student service delivery (i.e., students who need additional support to maximize their learning will receive those services in the classroom rather than an office away from their classmates).

Our Health Services > Nurse Ganchi has been busy processing the medical paperwork of our new students to help them be ready for school opening -- remember, if you do not have certain medical and immunization records in order and on file here at WHS, you child cannot begin school on September 1st. Questions? Call or email WHS Nurse jessica Ganchi.

Our Food Service > Our food service department will be sending home necessary paperwork to establish lunch and/or milk accounts for your children on the first day of school. If you suspect that your family may be eligible for free or reduced hot lunch or milk, please complete and return the necessary forms so that we can lend assistance. Remember also, our food service department provides free healthy snacks for all students every day. This marvelous program helps us to meet student and family needs in a very healthy way!

Our Transportation Company > Our bus routes are now posted at school and on our website. If you have questions about busing, pick-up and drop-off times, or need more information about your child's bus stop, you can call our bus company, First Student, during normal business hours.

Our Calendar > In addition to our standard school district calendar that indicates holidays and school vacation dates, we will now offer an interactive online calendar that will include much more, completely up to date information to help you know what is going on at Woodland, and when. This is a new feature on our school website that you will want to investigate soon.

Our Handbook > Our Student-Parent Handbook for 2011-2012 has been published, and a hard copy of the handbook will be coming home with your student on the first day of school. However, we have already posted the handbook online at our website. Check it out!

Our School Opening Schedule > Teachers will be getting a head start on the kids again this year, with three 'work-days' (August 29th-31st)
before school officially opens for our students on Thursday, September 1st. Don't forget the Warm Woodland Welcome (described below) which is scheduled for the evening of Tuesday, August 30th. If you have any questions about student registration or school opening, please contact your friends in the WHS Main Office, and we'll do our best to help you as quickly as possible.

Our Warm Woodland Welcome > This annual beginning of school open house has become a very popular and well-attended event enjoyed by most all WHS families. Come in to WHS on Tuesday, August 30th, from 5-6pm. to renew friendships and acquaintances, see your child's new classroom, and meet your child's new teacher. This open house is 'low-key' and more social than academic (we'll have our Fall Curriculum Night on September 22nd). If you have particular questions for your child's teacher or wish to share particular information about your child with her/his teacher, you should make an appointment for a parent-teacher conference sometime during the first couple weeks of school. Alternatively, you can contact your child's teacher anytime via email or telephone/voicemail to discuss your family or student needs. We look forward to building a strong partnership with your family so that we can work together to meet your goals for your child's educational experience here at Woodland Heights.

Are you happy to be here yet? We certainly hope so!

See you on August 30th for our annual 'Warm Woodland Welcome'!

Primary School Improvement Initiatives Announced For 2011-2012

There are a constellation of interests, goals, and initiatives that we pursue here at Woodland Heights simultaneously, and constantly. As part of our continuous improvement model, and with the pace of change in our society and in the field of education, we are not at liberty to select a small number of goals for our coming school year, we must employ a multi-faceted program of systemic change that will bring us to an even better place on several fronts. However, quality schools will typically select a handful of over-arching initiatives (goals) for their future work, from which all other endeavors will flow.

For the coming year, as a result of formal and informal process, meetings, and discussions with parents, WHS staff, and Laconia School District leadership, during the 2011-2012 academic year, the learning community at Woodland Heights School will endeavor to:

A.] Improve Literacy Instruction --

No ability or skill is more critical to the success of a student or adult than the abilities to read and accurately comprehend, write and effectively articulate. It is for this reason, and the recognition that too many of our students are not 'Proficient' in the area of reading and writing as indicated on varying student achievement assessments, that we elect to significantly reform/redesign the manner in which we teach children how to read. Moving from a 'canned', one-size-fits-all reading 'program' to a more personalized 'Balanced Literacy', 'Workshop' approach to reading and writing instruction will allow us to focus more effectively on our students, and better meet the unique learning needs of each and every child in our school.

B.] Improve Mathematics Instruction --

Using the techniques and approaches of Professor Mahesh Sharma, we will strive to attain high achievement in the area of mathematics for every student at WHS this year. While continuing to use the renowned mathematics program, Everyday Mathematics, as our primary instructional vehicle, we will intelligently supplement Everyday Math with Dr. Sharma's techniques to promote greater success for all students in the area of mathematics. If we are able to implement these new approaches to the extent that we anticipate, it could dramatically improve student understanding of numeracy and key arithmetic concepts that will not only facilitate their math achievement today, but it will foster significant future success in mathematics learning in the years ahead. Mathematical thinking, understanding, application, and problem-solving will all improve for the betterment of lifelong success and fulfillment both in and outside of their future workplace. Our goal is never to graduate a student who may exclaim the familiar refrain: "I can't do math!" At WHS, all students can and will 'do math' -- well.

C.] Refine Our Response to Intervention (RtI) and Differentiated Instruction (DI) Models --

Response to Intervention and Differentiated Instruction are, at their core, mechanisms to promote the personalization of learning and creating opportunities for each and every child in our school to enjoy success at many levels (academic, social, experiential) and actualize growth in many worthwhile directions (as a scholar, thinker, citizen, worker, and human being of integrity and worth).

Much work has been done over the past year to move our school toward being a true and legitimate 'Student-Centered School'. It would seem obvious enough: schools exist to meet the learning needs of children, it is all about the kids. Or is it? The questions that we have been asking ourselves time and time again, fall on the line: If we are to truly be a student-centered school, what should learning look like? What should our teachers be doing? What should our students be doing? What materials would we use? How should we structure student learning experiences (instruction)? How should we organize our school, its teams, and its resources? etc., etc. This process of reflection and honest self-assessment has generated provocative discussion and some significant changes to what we do and how we do it here at Woodland Heights School. Some examples of outcomes related to this discussion include: our new student-centered (rather than program-centered) approaches to the teaching of literacy and mathematics, our commitment to 21st Century ('Next Generation') Learning and all that it entails, the creation of new grade-level teacher teams, the full integration of our school's 'Interventionists' (special education and Title I Reading Teachers) into the grade level teacher teams and relocating their office and teaching space into the grade level pods, a greater focus on enrichment opportunities for all children and a new emphasis on frequent, regular integration of the arts and movement into the everyday learning experiences of our students. Response to Intervention and Differentiated Instruction are formalized approaches/components that will help to facilitate our attainment of this truly student-centered vision for our school community.


D,] Continue Our Commitment and Leadership in the Area of Next Generation Learning (NxGL) --

This aspect of our practice here at Woodland Heights tends to receive the most notoriety but it is, in fact, just one aspect of our highly integrated, overall effort to provide our students with meaningful, relevant, and necessary educational experiences. Through our work in this initiative, the everyday learning experience of our students is punctuated seamlessly by several natural, independent, semi-independent, and/or cooperative opportunities to enhance their learning using '21st Century Learning Tools (computers, iPads, interactive whiteboards, the internet). They will use this technology in ways that are consistent with the manner in which secondary school and adult learners use tools and work as self-directed and/or collaborative partners to act as creative and resourceful creators in a project-based / problem-solving environment. No longer will students be passive recipients of uninspiring, disconnected, irrelevant education. Guided by talented teacher facilitators, they now will be active and dynamic creators of their own learning and their own future. Our students need to interact with the tools and benefit from learning experiences that with prepare them for their future, not our past.

E.] Continue to Strengthen Our Community, Citizenship and Character Development Programs --

Students cannot learn, engage, and participate in school to their fullest potential unless they feel comfortable, safe, respected, valued, and confident in themselves and their abilities. This goal indicates that as a learning community, we understand that we must nurture and work to develop the 'whole child'. Students have much to learn and many skills to develop beyond traditional academics. We want our students to make the right decisions for the right reasons, always being mindful of how their decisions and their behavior effects the quality of life and learning for others in our community. Our work on this goal will result in further developing the culture of Woodland Heights School as one where every child can and will be physically and emotionally safe, and will succeed academically and flourish socially.

As we embark on this ambitious plan for school improvement, we are energized and encouraged by the growth that we have already made in these areas over the past year, and can see clearly how our students and families will benefit from our continued effort and focus on growth in these areas.

If you would like further information on our school's plans for the coming year, or to offer feedback, please contact me at school (603-524-8733) or by email (ddobe@laconia.k12.nh.us) at your convenience.

Ready. Set. Learn!

Next Generation Learning: Making Learning Relevant for Our Students, and Our Community

Some will say it is like 'Back to the Future'. Some will say, "the pendulum continues to swing". Others will simply say "thank goodness", or "it's about time".

The learning community of Woodland heights School knew excellence. It knew education and achievement at the cutting edge. It had been a well-oiled organization of talented and dedicated professionals all sailing the good ship 'WHS' in the same direction.

Then came 'No Child Left Behind'. Then came high-stakes standardized testing. Then came the language and labels: 'school in need of improvement', 'failing school', and 'corrective action'. Really? Well, as with most school districts who encountered difficulty meeting the bar of NCLB, administrators in Laconia took dramatic steps toward 'school improvement'. Many of these measures were consistent with what other school systems were doing to try to increase test scores, and not really improve the school. With the experience of the last handful of years, almost all educators are now taking a deep breath and without fear are now beginning to contemplate, "maybe there is more to a quality education, a quality school than test scores". Although we still must strive for increased performance on standardized tests, we at WHS now understand clearly that accountability measures of the past and 'teaching to the test' are woefully inept in determining and addressing the needs and skills critical for lifelong success, or for providing the educational experiences that children will need to be successful in the workplace of the 21st Century.

At WHS and at other progressive schools across the globe, it is known as the 21st Century Learning movement, recently refashioned into the 'Next Generation Learning' (NxGL) movement. At WHS we are not only in the thick of this movement, we are at the forefront of it here in New Hampshire.

The following is information is organized and presented by the Partnership for Next Generation Learning. This coalition of states, educational organizations, and business foundations promotes a realistic perspective on the flaws of our country's educational system and offers a realistic approach to addressing the imporvement needs of our society's educational institutions. If school systems are to really meet a bar that would constitute success for public education now and in the future, they would be striving to meet the following blueprint that our U.S. Department of Education Secretary, Arne Duncan, is now beginning to promote.

The Six Critical Attributes of Next Generation Learning
The work of the Partnership for Next Generation Learning is rooted in six attributes that form the foundation of a redesigned education system for all learners. The attributes describe the characteristics or conditions of a transformed student experience that will lead to higher levels of achievement and successful transition to postsecondary education, work, and adult life for all students.

Sources of the Attributes
The attributes spring from three primary sources that did not exist or were not relevant when the current system of education was designed:
Recognition that the world has changed
 We have moved from a highly-localized industrial and agrarian economy to a technology-enabled global knowledge and service economy.
 Economic shifts are playing out in every community, and the end game for public education has changed.
Greater knowledge of how learning happens
 The science of learning has progressed dramatically since the basic structures and processes of public education were put in place.
 We know more from neuroscience about how learning occurs and what kinds of experiences best foster learning.
Deepened understanding of social and cultural factors
 The United States represents a highly diverse segment of the global population with an array of assets and needs.
 The education system must have more intentional relationships with families, community agencies, and formal and informal learning providers.

The Attributes as Design Principles
The attributes are not program strategies. Rather, they serve as a set of design
principles to guide and inform the process of system redesign to a new, learnercentric system of public education. Grounded in a solid base of research and best practice from around the world, the attributes are:
 Personalizing learning calls for a data-driven framework to set goals, assess
progress, and ensure students receive the academic and developmental
supports they need
 World-class knowledge and skills require achievement goals to sufficiently
encompass the content knowledge and skills required for success in a globallyoriented
world
 Performance-based learning and assessment puts students at the center of
the learning process by enabling the demonstration of mastery based on high,
clear, and commonly-shared expectations
 Comprehensive systems of learning supports address social, emotional,
physical, and cognitive development along a continuum of services to ensure
the success of all students
 Anytime, everywhere opportunities provide constructive learning experiences
in all aspects of a child’s life, through both the geographic and the Internetconnected
community
 Authentic student voice is the deep engagement of students in directing and
owning their individual learning and shaping the nature of the education experience among their peers

As we at Woodland heights School have already begun; over the coming years, outstanding school systems across our country will be redesigning their programs and student learning opportunities to emulate these goals and attributes in order to provide a more meaningful, authentic, and effective educational experience for our nation's students. Our students come to us trusting that we will provide them with the knowledge, tools, skills, and abilities to lead happy, productive, successful, and fulfilling lives as adults. We must not disappoint our students by providing them with an education that was designed to serve the society and students populating our schools 30-40 years ago. The world has changed, and so must we.

For WHS Educators: Summer School Every Year!

As has been the case for years now in Laconia, the paradigm of teachers 'having the summer off' is a vestige of the distant past.

Our teachers are almost as busy during the summer as they are during the schol year -- really! How could this be so? Although many are not teaching children during the steamy weeks of July and August, many are. Here are some of the programs that call our educators in to school to service children:

Extended School Year Program (ESY) -- This program exists to support students with identified learning needs to help assure that 'regression' does not occur (we aim to help students maintain the academic gains made over the school year, rather than let them slip away over the steamy weeks of summer).

Project Extra Summer Stretch -- This learning opportunity is extended to students who would benefit from additional support over the summer to help shore up their basic academic skills in a fun and engagin way. This program helps students be in a stronger place, academically, when they enter the new school year than when they left school the previous June.

Project Extra Summer Camp -- This fun-filled summer learning opportunity promotes the further development of social and other skills in a safe, supervised setting over the course of the summer. The emphasis of this program is on healthy recreational activities, good sportmanship, and building relationships across our community.

Kindergarten Camp -- It is through Kindergarten Camp that we offer students entering our kindergarten program a transitional learning opportunity. The kids get to come into our kindergarten classrooms for two weeks in August to work with kindergarten program staff and get a head start on their first year at WHS. Familiarizing students with life as a student in a public school, focusing on social growth and learning school routines is the primary goal of this program.

Renzulli Learning -- This technology-based enrichment opportunity is made available to advanced learners in our intermediate grades. It is housed at Laconia Middle School, and is an extension of the Project Extra enrichment programs offered in that building for middle school students.

Additionally, it is during the weeks of summer that much of our professional development (teacher training) and curriculum and program development occurs. the summer is true 'quality time' for teachers to come together and improve our school program and their own professional expertise.

Here are some of the professional development opportunities that our teachers are pursuing this summer:

College Coursework -- Many of our staff members take advantage of the summer months to take college or university courses (on campus and/or online) to further their command of their material, or broaden their perspectives of their role as public school educators. Much of this is degree-track coursework, and will ultimately result in the attainment of a professional degree (such as a Master of Education degree), or a new professional certification through the NH Department of Education (in areas such as Special Education, School Administration and Leadership, School Counselling, etc.).

Laconia Summer Institutes -- Each summer the educators of the Laconia School District have opportunities to attend professional development institutes that are organized by Laconia Administrators. A sampling of such institutes includes: Mahesh Sharma Mathematics Interventions (specific techniques to help strengthen student math ability), Mahesh Sharma Curriculum Course (staff will learn how to make mathematics program improvements to promote high levels of success for our students in mathematics), Reading Comprehension Instruction (staff will learn/reinforce the instructional techniques that are considered 'best practice' for the teaching of reading in elementary schools), Writing Workshop Instruction (staff will learn/reinforce the instructional techniques that are considered 'best practice' for the teaching of writing in elementary schools), and NWEA Measures of Academic Progress Data Analysis (staff will learn how to analyze NWEA assessment results, and use that information to improve learning in their classrooms).

Conferences and Workshops -- WHS Staff members also attend a variety of independent or team-based professional development activities away from our schools site. Some of these conferences include: RTI&I Leadership Institute (our team learned how to better lead the further develpment of our school's 'Response to Intervention and Instruction' program), ISTE (our team learn cutting edge techniques for integrating educational technology and 21st Century skill development into the everyday learning experience of our students), ASCD-Boston (a team attended a workshop on RtII & Differentiated Instruction and the common ground betwen these two approaches to meeting student learning needs), and the LRCIA Technology Institute (many Laconia teachers will work together to learn best practices for technology integration in our schools).

Team and School Based Initiatives -- This summer work for staff includes such opportunities as: School Summits (staff members come together to work on a specific issue or initiative -- i.e., School Climate, Grant Writing), Team Planning (grade level teachers come together to discuss, develop, and coordinate program for the coming year -- what they will do to meet curriculum standards in each subject area, with what materials, and using which instructional techniques), and Individual Classroom Community Set-Up -- teachers spend an exhaustive number of hours setting up their classroom community spaces to make them safe, inviting, developmentally appropriate, engaging, and conducive to high quality teaching and learning).

As you can see, at WHS the learning never stops, for kids or adults. We are a learning community dedicated to meeting the academic and social needs of our students, and the professional development needs of our staff. Our need for teaching and learning never ends; and niether do the broad opportunities for learning at Woodland Heights School.

Teacher Assignment Model for 2011-2012 Emphasizes Continuous Improvement at WHS

One of the most impactful aspects of school organization planning involves the possible formation of new and dynamic, highly complementary and collaborative teacher teams. Teacher assignments for coming year at Woodland Heights will look very different than those of the past.

After careful consideration, the following teacher assignments have been made for the 2011-2012 school year:

[Teachers with new assignments have their names emboldened.]

Kindergarten > Paula Christopher, Jessica Cardinal, and Trisha Tousignant (Jennifer Doherty will be on Leave for 2011-2012.)

Grade 1 > Pam MacCulloch, Jennifer Connelly, Holly Knowles, and Mary Ann Myers

Grade 2 > Janet Caouette, Sarah Mull, Jacquelyn Reed, and Ashley Hogan

Grade 3 > Jen Douglas, Bobbie Stormann, and Theresa McDonnell

Grade 4 > Irena Logue, Ann Peterson, and Joanna Bergman

Grade 5 > Jessica Ortolf, Kate Shumway-Pit, and a new teacher candidate to be selected over the summer.

We are extremely excited for the potential of these new teacher teams. You will find your child's classroom placement noted on her/his Quarter #4 Report Card which will go home with your student on the last day of school, June 21st.

WHS Teachers Plan for the End of the Year

An educator's life in any school district is extremely demanding, and requires more talent, time, energy, dedication, resilience, and involves giving more of herself/himself than almost any other profession. At a school like Woodland Heights you have to be a 'rock star' to even survive. No kidding.

To share an inkling of what our teachers are attending to at this time of year, beyond their normal responsibilities of educating their students and keeping them safe, let me share the following list:

A.] Administer, score and report results of Everyday Math Final Exam.
B.] Administer, score and report the results of year end literacy assessments.
C.] Develop balanced class lists that will be used to determine class placement for 2011-2012.
D.] Complete data grids that include all of the most pertinent assessment data and other ratings of academic and social performance over the following year that will be used by new teachers to plan for the coming year.
E.] Nominate students vor various summer programs.
F.] Develop a budget and order materials to assure quality programming for the coming year.
G.] Pack their entire classroom and materials, and clean classroom furniture and fixtures.
H.] Complete Quarter #4 Report Cards, and place necessary documents in student cumulative files.
I.] Begin meeting with teaching team for 2011-2012.
J.] Plan summer professional development schedule.

Thank goodness for our students, we have a whole school of 'rock stars' who are getting better and better all the time. As we wrap up our important business for this school year, we begin to look with anticipation to next year. As we say at WHS, "the future looks bright!"

While I've Been Away ......

O.K., those of you have been in to WHS know that your principal did not actually go on vacation for the past six weeks (you've got to be kidding me, where did the time go?!?), nor did I intentionally take a hiatus from the WHS Principal's Blog. Truth be told, and as many of you know ... I have been buried at work, and blogging to share a glimpse of life 'on the inside' at Woodland Heights needed to take a lower priority. Not to make excuses ... it just is what it is!

So what has been going on? A lot. Where do I start? How about from the beginning. The following is a list of 'blog micro-entries' that cover some key events and conditions that have characterized administrative and staff functions over recent weeks.

A.] 2011-2012 Budget Development and Review Process > This year we were mightily challenged with a sluggish economic recovery and dramatic cutbacks in state aid to schools. These conditions necessitated some severe budget cuts for Laconia (and most districts across the state). The challenge was to determine how and what to cut that would result in the least amount of harm to the quality of our educational program and student expereince here at Woodland Heights, and across our district. Many meetings and many conversations later, we believe that we have arrived at a plan that will allow us to continue our good work on behalf of the City of Laconia. There have been cutbacks to several programs, and there have been reductions in staff, but the kids will be fin in the end. We'll make sure of it!

B.] WHS Behavior Specialist Leaves Our Service > A critical position in our school is that of the WHS Behavior Specialist. This individual helps coordinate our school's student management and character development programs. The Behavior Specialist's role involves, among other things: conducting investigations, assigning consequences for misdeeds,making parent contacts, and logging disciplinary infractions; administering and supervising disciplinary consequences; developing and administering student incentive programs (behavior plans); and educational programs to promote good citizenship and a safe school climate. Well, we were without a behavior specialist for much of the spring, and the office staff had to take up much of the slack -- tough to do when you already have a 'considerable' workload. We were fortunate to hire another behavior specialist, and then spent necessary time to assist with training and preparing our new candidate for success. We are definitely in a better place now!

C.] Teacher Evaluation Cycle Peaks > The Laconia School District has a rigorous teacher evaluation system that calls for very careful oversight of staff. Depending on a teacher's level of experience, she is formally evaluated between three and nine times a year. This includes formal classroom observations, pre- and post-observation conferences, and the writing of teacher evaluation reports. This program is supported by an intensive professional goal-setting process, and a process of documenting and reflecting upon professional development activities (teacher training opportunities such as conferences, workshops, graduate level college courses, book study groups, etc., etc.). Suffice it to say, your teachers are hired to join our team based on a highly competitive process to assure that Laconia obtains the highest quality professional staff possible. Once your foot is in the door, however, the real challenge begins: proving worthiness through excellent performance in order to retain your position. The teacher evaluation process is another major undertaking, and a critically important one, for our staff.

D.] Plymouth State University Interns Wrap-Up at WHS > We were pleased to grow our partnership with PSU this year and bring to our school a large number of college students learning how to become successful teachers. Part of our obligation in the process is an intensive series of evaluations to offer competent, field-based feedback to the students and to the University about aspiring teacher skill development, professional growth, and teaching potential. The partnership is important to us, but is not without an investment on our part (some staff time and energy).

E.] Summer Program Planning and Recruitment > In Laconia, we are pleased to offer many grant funded opportunities for our students to continue their learning over the summer. These experiences are often related to fundamental academics, arts and engineering enrichment, or other experiential learning. These programs require careful planning, staffing, student recruitment, and other logistical considerations. We continue to do all that we can to make learning opportunities happen for our students year-round! In Laconia, the learning and the fun never end.

F.] ARRA Technology Grant Wrap-Up > Woodland Heights school has enjoyed a monumental opportunity to participate in a technology grant that has gone a long way to revolutionizing the way teachers teach, and the way that students learn at WHS. This opportunity that has had such dramatically positive results for our school also has required a great deal of commitment from our staff. It is true that you don't get something for nothing. Our teachers have received a lot, but they have given a great deal in order to take our school 'to the next level' with technology.

G.] General School Management, Events, and Problem-Solving > Television shows are frequently written about the drama, intensity, and dynamic environment that can be found in a hospital or police station. I certainly wouldn't take anything away from the service and the sacrifice of people in health careers, law enforcement, or emergency services, but I could make a pitch to a major network for a program about a school office. It is hard to imagine any environment more active than an organization that houses and services 450 3-11 year-olds, their families, and staff, all day, every day for an entire school year -- oh, and then there are myriad evening events and a multitude of summer programs and other organizations that operate out of our school. What is the point? At WHS, 'it' is happening all the time, at every moment, and in every way. Don't believe me? Drop in for a moment sometime.

Enough for now. Thanks for reading, and if there is ever another long gap between blog posts, just know that I haven't been on vacation, 'just been too busy to write! Keeping up with Woodland Heights? You better have roller skates!

Flurry of Activity is the Magic of May!

For all the work that we have done, for all that we have accomplished, and for all of the growing that we have done throughout the year, it is during the month of May that it seems everything bursts forth like the May flowers in our gardens. May is full of life, energy, and enthusiasm that is absolutely irrepressible. At the same that time we celebrate the end of winter and move closer to the end of a great school year, we work diligently to bring projects and initiatives to a satisfactory conclusion, administer end of year assessment to our students, plan our summer staff development training, and establish our school district's many summer programs. Amidst all of this activity, we will welcome a new class to our school (next year's Kindergarteners) and wish another class a fond farewell (our Fabulous Fifth Graders) as they begin their transition to even greater growth and success at Laconia Middle School.

You can check out our school calendar which was sent home with students just before April Break, or check our school website regularly for the latest news about our many events.

As it seems like a long time since we last connected (virtually), I am offering this podcast which will highlight some of what you can look forward to here at Woodland Heights over the coming weeks of May. [Remember, it can take a moment or two for the podcast to load.]

From all of your friends here at WHS, we wish you a wonderful start to one of the most active, exciting, and productive months of the school year. Welcome to Magical May!

Student-Led Parent Conferences at WHS This Thursday

It is hard to believe: our third marking term has closed, and Quarter #3 report cards will go home on Monday, April 11. It has been an amazingly fast and productive year, and the children have all grown so well.

In planning for our Thursday afternoon and evening student-led parent conferences, I recently had a chance to review some video I shot of our school on September 24th, 2010 -- the day of our WHS Fall Open House. The teachers and students were very excited for the event, and everyone looked fantastic (it just happened to be our fall picture day also, so many of the kids were dressed in their finest!). I will run the video on a loop on Thursday, so you can see how much we have all grown and changed over the past seven months.

I hope that you have made an appointment to meet with your child's teacher at some point this week. Although most conferences will be held on Thursday, if you can't join us on that day, please let your child's teacher know when you could get in to WHS for your child's spring conference. We'll try our best to accommodate for your work and family schedule.

The parent-teacher conferences held in the springtime at WHS are extra special because they REALLY star your child(ren)! Your child has been preparing to lead a conference with you and his/her teacher. During the meeting, all parties will talk about your student's experience in our school this year, and all of the wonderful growth that we have all worked so hard to achieve. Our spring conferences are truly a celebration of your child's academic and personal growth over the course of the school year.

We anticipate that you will be impressed by what you see and what you hear at the conference.

Please join us for our spring student-led parent conferences at WHS this coming Thursday, April 14th. WHS and your child: always worth the trip!

Education Fair at WHS Features 21st Century Learning

When our district public relations committee created the architecture for this year's Laconia School District Education Fair, finding a theme to suggest for Woodland Heights School was no difficult affair. It was determined in short order that our theme would be '21st Century Learning, Each and Every Day'.

Since the announcement was made, our students and staff have been excitedly making arrangements for their opportuunity to showcase the products of our technology in education initiative this year. Every WHS classroom, department and program will have information to share, student work to show and demonstrations to make in order to share with our guests some of what we have been working on this year. We are proud to share our accomplishments, and we hope that you will be pleased and impressed.

One interesting example of how this project has unfolded, and right in step with 21st Century Learning, our 5th Graders formed a cooperative work group and have been brainstorming, organizing, and preparing their pod's EdFair displays and demonstrations. Other examples of 21st Century Learning in Pod 5 were also readily observed last week; students could be seen around the school mapping out video 'shoots', and in the Commons uploading and editing their work. They were recording audio commentary on their netbooks to accompany a recent Social Studies civics project. Providing a global education aspect, our 5th Graders conducted online research on the recent tragedies in Japan and then organized and publicized a school-based relief effort. Some of this experiential learning has been recorded by the students on their class blog, which is linked from their class wiki. All of this is representative of just one grade level, and just some of the projects and examples of 21st Century Learning that I noticed in Pod 5 over the past week.

Elsewhere around the building, students are alerting their teachers at every turn that "We can show this to our parents at EdFair!" Their enthusiasm for learning beyond the textbook, workbook and basal is unbridled, and has been hugely satisfying to watch take root and grow here at Woodland. Our growth process has been 'organic' and student-centered, unfolding at a natural pace in response to increasing student capabilities in all the diverse ways that learning can take form in a modern, technology-infused, opportunity-enriched, and student-centered elementary school.

Technology and learning go hand in hand here at Woodland Heights School, and as the teachers and students will tell you at EdFair, there is no turning back now. Once students and teachers have experienced 21st Century Learning with 21st Century Learning Tools, they can't imagine living and learning any other way. Our learning process is absolutely an appropriate and natural result of 'moving with the times' to best prepare our students for success in the world in which they currently live, and to prepare them for success in the world that they will soon inherit. Any other approach would be unethical, and a breach of our professional responsibility to provide a meaningful education for our students.

Laconia 'EdFair - 2011' should be a great night at Woodland Heights School. Please join us at 5:30pm. on Thursday, March 31st, for an hour of wonder and marvel as our students show you what is special about their school and how they learn. WHS is a very special school community, and we are not afraid to tell you about it. As we have grown accustomed to saying: "We are Woodland Heights, ... and this is what we do."

Professional Development Opportunities Abound at WHS!

Due to a number of skillfully written grants, Woodland Heights is pleased and proud to offer its staff a number of 'powerful' learning opportunities this spring to further their professional growth and promote their effectiveness with students. The opportunities fall under the following categories:

A.] Book Study Groups > Over the course of the spring, our staff will read, study, and discuss the following important works in our field: Mosaic of Thought, Second Edition (reading comprehension and thinking), Leading and Managing a Differentiated Classroom (accounting for student differences in ability and interest), and Enhancing RtI: How to Ensure Success with Effective Classroom Instruction and Intervention (refining school processes for addressing the needs of struggling learners).

B.] Professional Learning Community (PLC) Meetings > Our school's Literacy Coach (Joanna Bergman) is meeting weekly with our grade level teacher teams to study the book, Strategies that Work. Mrs. Bergman and WHS teachers are discussing the book and planning for direct application of its 'strategies' into our school's evolving literacy program.

C.] Work with Consultants > We will soon begin work at WHS with Mahesh Sharma, a nationally-renowned consultant in the area of mthematics instruction. Also, we anticipate doing work with professors from our partner school, Plymouth State University, in the area of literacy model development (reading, comprhending, and writing) a little later in the spring and upcoming summer.

D.] College Coursework > Through the Plymouth State University Writing Project, a number of our teachers will have the opportunity to take a writing course designed to meet their specific needs in the strengthening of writing instruction strategies and techniques at Woodland Heights.

E.] Workshops > There have been, and will continue to be, opportunities for our teachers and staff to participate in day-long workshops to promote their growth in key, discrete areas. The most notable upcoming opportunity will be in mid-April when Dr. Richard Allington (a nationally acclaimed and prolific writer, thinker, and trainer in the area of improving student literacy) will be featured in a New Hampshire Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (NHASCD) conference relating to methods for assisting struggling readers ("RtI and What Really Matters for Struggling Readers").

F.] Conferences > There will be two major conferences held after the close of the school year that we will have the opportunity to attend in order to further advance key schoolwide initiatives. We will continue our work in these areas into the coming (next) school year, and beyond. WHS will be sending a team of staff to the annual convention of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) to participate in a series of rigorous trainings in technology integration and 21st Century Learning. We will also send a team to the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) regional conference where teachers will participate in an institute relating to the commonality and shared goals of Response to Intervention (RtI) and Differentiated Instruction (DI) -- "Differentiated Instruction and Response to Intervention: Shared Goals for Student Success".

We are delighted for the opportunity to share these learning experiences with our staff. Our Woodland Heights teachers and paraprofessionals have embraced these opportunities with energy and enthusiasm. As members of the WHS learning community, we continually strive to become more proficient and more effective in our work with children, building the best school and providing the best learning opportunities possible for all of our students.

Stay tuned for more information available over the course of upcoming months about how our program may evolve as a result of these tremendous professional development and school improvement opportunities.

'ARTS ALIVE!': A Celebration of the Arts Laconia

During the week of March 14-18 a special celebration of the arts is being held at the historic Belknap Mill Museum in downtown Laconia. Visual art exhibits from each of the Laconia district schools will on display for visitors to enjoy and appreciate. Art students and teachers from each of our elementary schools, as well as Laconia Middle and High Schools, have been working hard to create and display amazing works of art that have students beaming and parents proud as punch. Additionally, the event featured musical performances (both vocal and instrumental) on Monday evening as part of the show's 'Grand Opening'.

As a school community we are especially pleased to highlight the arts in this fashion, and to participate in a collaborative project with our counterparts in other local school districts and with the arts community here in Laconia. After all, many people consider our capacity to create and appreciate art to be the part of us that is most uniquely human. The arts and the effort to create them appeal to the higher part of ourselves, the highest part of our intellect. The creative/artistic process is important in our overall school program, and complements all that we do. We strive to teach and cultivate the arts at Woodland Heights: discretely in our related arts classes, in an integrated fashion through our regular classroom coursework, and through various enrichment opportunities available in our school.

The arts are alive and well in the City of Laconia. I hope that you will have an opportunity to stop by the show and see the creative works that our students and teachers have been producing.

WHS Proud of Its State University Partnership

All of us here at Woodland Heights School are extremely proud of our ongoing partnership with the Education Department at Plymouth State University. WHS has quickly become a 'destination school' for students enrolled in the teacher preparation program at PSU. Many come to Woodland for their first classroom observations in regular or special education, their 'practicum' which involves their first real teaching experiences under the close and supportive eye of their experienced and talented WHS mentor teacher, and/or the culminating and final experience of their preservice teacher training: 'student teaching'.

We are honored to have the opportunity to work with fledgling teachers and contribute to their growing professional competence. In this effort, we also have the opportunity to contribute positively to the continued excellence and bright future of our profession. Woodland Heights School is, after all, a true learning community. We offer an education, as well as personal and professional growth for all students, staff, families, and 'teachers in training' who elect to become part of our Woodland Heights School community.

How do PSU and it's students benefit from our partnership? The PSU students who come to our school enjoy a carefully structured learning experience during which they can discover new talents and refine their teaching skills as they prepare for a career in Education. Under the care of exceptional professional models in a unique facility design, we offer a technology-enriched and progressive academic program, as well as opportunities to work with a diverse student population.

How do WHS and it's students benefit from our partnership? You 'know you know it' when you can teach it. Our cooperating teachers have risen to the top of their profession, performing at exceptionally high levels and are ready to teach future educators what it is, and what it means, to be an outstanding teacher. Through this 'teach the teachers' process, we become more mindful of our practice and achieve further refinement of our program and its delivery. Having the college students 'in the house' tends to make us all stand a little taller, perform a little better, and causes us to reflect on all that we do at WHS and how we do it. In essence, the process offers both a test and a validation for us -- one that continuously contributes to our overall school improvement effort.

We are extremely pleased and proud to have the opportunity to welcome 16 Plymouth State University students through our doors every Friday morning over the balance of the school year. Our school is a brighter, stronger, and even more caring community with them in the fold. With PSU on our team, everyone wins; especially our students!

Take a Screencast Tour of Our New School Website!

At Woodland Heights School we continue to explore new and exciting technologies that we can use to further improve our school program, communications, and student experiences. One new tool involves 'screencasting'. A screencast allows the author to record the content on a computer screen and provide narration as well. This allows us to record and share tours and tutorials for various learning tools and resources that we use in our school with students. Soon you are likely to see a number of screencasts on class wikis to promote student learning at home or to help you to assist your child in his or her learning. Stay tuned for more exciting news about tools and technologies that we will employ to further improve your child's educational experience at Woodland Heights School!

To learn more about our school website and about what screencasts can do, check out our new school website screencast tours: one and two. [You can view a full-screen HD version of the screencast by clicking the icon next to the speaker icon in the lower right-hand corner of the viewing box.]

Enjoy, and hope to see you soon at Woodland Heights School!

For WHS Teachers, the Learning NEVER Stops!

Unfortunately, due to a winter storm on Friday, January 21st, a much anticipated 'staff inservice training day' at WHS was cancelled. Like any school closure, this cancellation was a huge disappointment for our staff. We had been planning our staff training program for many weeks and the prospect of losing the day was a tough one for all of us. Nonetheless, we will have other opportunities to learn and grow together and get better and better at what we do. The reality is, as a teacher you can never stop learning.

In the field of education, there are always new methods, strategies, programs and systems to learn. Furthermore, with the advent of computer and other information technologies all over the world and in its in schools, there has been a resulting exponential increase in the breadth of human knowledge and a corresponding increase in a teacher's required skill base. For our teachers, it can sometimes feel as if they are running endlessly on a hamster wheel (without ever quite reaching the cheese!). Add to all of that the ever-increasing demands, challenges, and expecations for our public school system, and you see that it is more complicated and more difficult to become(or remain)a successful teacher with each passing year.

What does this mean for teachers? Continuous learning and continuous improvement. WHS teachers are afforded four 'inservice training days' (i.e., you are 'on the clock' learning and working for the school district on those days). Beyond those inservice days, our teachers spend countless hours reading books, journals and magazines, and taking graduate level college courses. The attend weekly committee and team meetings expanding their depth of understanding, and sharing that professional growth with fellow staff members. In addition, they are continuously researching promising new opportunities for learning on the internet, and spend large blocks of time over the summer immersed in curriculum or program development work with their colleagues. It is also over the summer months that teachers receive the bulk of of their training on new district or school-based initiaitives.

LEARNING is the name of our game, and as career educators, we've grown pretty good at working either side of the desk. It's just part of what we do as 21st Century teachers at Woodland Heights School. Lifelong learning is definitely in the future for our students as well, and we love to model the workplace of the future for them at WHS!

Snow Days, Early Dismissals, and Delayed Openings, Oh My!!

Living in New Hampshire offers so many rewards and so many charms. As those of us who have called the 'Granite State' our home for any length of time know well, there is much truth in the old addage: "If you don't like the weather, just wait a minute."

This truism creates real headaches for school superintendents during the wintertime. Our long, difficult winters and their associated storms can be very hard to forecast accurately. If the storm appears severe enough, superintendents need to make very important decisions regarding school closures, delays or early dismissals. Oftentimes, those decision must be made with limited or unreliable weather information. When the possibility of inclement weather presents itself, they often need to make their 'call' well in advance of achieving any real certainty about what the weather will actually hold. This is because the school district needs to give significant notice to families and school staff about school closure plans when when poor weather is imminent. Our superintendents need to make certain that families have ample time to make necessary arrangements for the care of their children when school is closed.

The uncertainties of the weather and the consequences of making the 'wrong call' make the superintendents uneasy, and the rest of us,too. What we need to remember when these decisions are made is that the underlying reason for the closure decision is to assure the safety of the students; first, last, and always. If a superintendent cannot be certain that the buses will be able to safely make their routes and that students walking are sufficiently visable to motorists (over high snowbanks, etc.), then s/he needs to make the school closure call. Although content in his or her heart that the call was made in the best safety interests of children, they also know how 'the call' can inconvenience families who need to make arrangements to miss work or have a trusted party care for their children so that they can go to work (sometimes incurring a considerable babysitting expense).

Living in New Hampshire is not easy, and long, uncertain winters are the norm. There is excitement in that uncertainty, and prospect of a 'snow day' for the children always seems like a gift -- at least to them!

As the coming weeks of winter unfold and new storms head our way, please remember that school delay, cancellation, or early dismissal decisions are not made lightly, but always with the right thing as the first priority: the safety and well-being of your children.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!

WHS Begins the Year with Assessments and Technology

The main themes of our school since returning from the Holiday Break are Assessment, and Technology (sometimes both).

In the area of assessment .....

Mrs. Bergman and our team of 'Interventionists' (Title I Tutors and Special Educators) began the new year administering the DIBELS reading assessment to all of our students in Grades K-5. This test is quick and easy to administer, and gives students an opportunity to work one-on-one with a teacher who administers the test and analyzes student performance. These test results are then used by our interventionists and classroom teachers to measure student progress, effectiveness of programs, and organizing students for new instructional groups.

The F&P Benchmark Assessment is administered by our Grade 3-5 classroom teachers and measures student reading levels. This helps teachers chart student progress, connect students with 'just right' books, and form reading groups (Literature Circles).


A computer-based test of reading and math proficiency, the NWEA Measures of Academic Progress, was administered by Mrs. Bergmann and Grade 3-5 classroom teachers during the weeks of January 10th and 17th.


There are formal mid-year tests specific to our district-wide reading program, Houghton-Mifflin, that teacher teams in Grades 1-5 administer to students that help us track their performance relative to the literacy program adopted by the school district four years ago.


Meanwhile, our Kindergarten teachers have been administering a comprehensive mid-year assessments of their own. The PALS tests measure student progress in key academic areas. This assessment is administered by our Kindergarten teachers.


In the area of technology ...

The new WHS Commons has been buzzing with activity during the school day, after school, and in the evenings.


Both small and large groups of students have been visiting the Commons on a daily basis now, and the area is already becoming a powerful new component of our overall school program for students. The access that this cluster has offered our students and staff has been remarkable. It is such a joy to see an under-utilized part of our school come to life with such vitality and energy.

The Commons has also been used by Project Extra! for some closely supervised academic enrichment opportunities during the after school hours. Additionally, it has been wonderful to open the area to families during our 'Family Night in the Commons' series which is really starting to catch some steam and is growing into an important opportunity for students and their families to access some great technology and receive computer training and support in the process!



Did you notice that we have a new look? That's right, WHS now has a brand new website. As part of a district-wide initiative to clean-up, upgrade,and update our school websites, we had the district's team of 'webmasters' (we are pleased to be represented by Mrs. Plourde in this group)meet this past Monday to begin the transitional process of moving to the new website format. We still have a lot of work to do, and are hopeful that you will be pleased with the final result. Please do not hesitate to share any feedback that you have to offer about our new website -- you can email Mrs. Plourde at mplourde@laconia.k12.nh.us with compliments or suggestions.

Lastly, our school's new 'Pathways to Learning' computer cluster was networked and made available to students just today. Some of Mr. Beyer's students were the very first to use the new computers. This cluster was established through a grant for reading and math interventions (to afford students extra support for their learning).

That should do it for now. Many thanks for your ongoing support of our school, its staff, and (most of all) its students!